The
following is an interview with Brooke Ferri of Black Toast Music. Black Toast
Music has placed a TON of music in a variety of TV shows and Films including
Six Feet Under, The Shield, CSI, The Nanny, Smallville, Party of Five, Prison
Break, Las Vegas, Barbershop, My Name Is Earl, The Unit and many, many more.

You
can read the interview below:

Aaron: Hi Brooke. Can you tell me a
Little bit about yourself and your role at Black Toast?

Brooke:
I
just graduated from Southwestern Law School here in LA and Passed the bar this
past Nov. I have been working for BTM since November 2010. Since BTM is a
boutique publishing company and music library my role at BTM is very
multi-faceted. I am the manager of business and creative affairs, which means
that I help implement and expedite projects that involve both the business and
creative side of the industry.

My
chief task since I have been here has been to help launch black toast records.
This has involved signing new indie bands, registering copyrights, dealing with
business entities, registering songs with the PROs, putting together albums
from the new bands as well as our established artists and creating compilation
albums.

Since
I have been here I have compiled and put together 11 albums which are currently
available on iTunes and other major digital distributors including albums by
the hip hop acts G-$tack and St. John, the blues artist Sonny Ellis, the indie
artists Kelly Pardekooper and Paul Otten and "TV Songs Vol. 1" and
"Vol. 2" which feature our most requested BTM songs as heard on
popular TV shows. Our third compilation album including the song from the Vampire
Diaries Promo "I Will Always Be Your
Baby" by Jenny and the Fentones should be hitting iTunes this summer.

Along
with launching BTR and putting together these albums I listen to a lot of music
artists have submitted and make suggestions to our president, Bob Mair, which
artists and composers I believe would make a nice contribution to our catalog.
I then meet with the artists and explain the business of how we operate. I
explain the contract that they would sign with us and help them understand the
terms and what it means to them. If they decide to work with us I then
conference with Bob Mair and discuss what songs we'd like from this artist and
or if we want the artist to write something specific for us; composers often
write pieces specifically for our needs. I then draw up the contracts for
signing.

Another
aspect of my job is pitching music to supervisors and producers. BTM has such a
great reputation in the industry that we have many film and TV clients that
come to us for specific music needs. When we get a request I go through our
catalog of about 4,000 songs and pull out the tracks that I think will best
suit the client's needs and send those songs to the client.

There
are plenty of other aspects to my job including lots of data and lots of paper!

Aaron:
What kind of music does Black Toast primarily place? Are there certain styles
of music you tend to place more than others?

Brooke: We
really place all genres of music. Lately, we have been placing more vocal songs
than instrumental only tracks. We have also been placing a lot of blues and
blues-rock and we are well known for our hip-hop and place a lot of hip-hop and
rap. My suggestion really would be for artists to see what kinds of music are
showing up on film and TV and that is going to be the type of music we are
placing.

We
are also getting more involved in trailer music which is typically big
orchestral music sometimes with ethereal chanting or hybrid orchestral rock
music. We are also doing more advertising music, which is almost always
instrumental and often upbeat.

Aaron: What advice do you have to
musicians interested in licensing their music beyond the obvious tips like
"write great music" and "produce great
music". Any specific tips based on your experience that
musicians who want to license more of their music should know about?

As
I mentioned above, see what types of music are popular in film and TV and try
and write in that style. Also, what is very important is to pay attention to
the mixes. Right now mixes tend to be very large and full so when mixing don't
do something small unless of course you are trying to replicate a certain
sound, say, something from the 70's. Either way however, the mix needs to be
record quality as to that genre of music.

What
is record quality for 2010 arena rock is different from 1970's folk. But
"Record Quality" in the mixes is really key. My other suggestion is
to be prolific and collaborate with other artists. The more you write the
better your chances and the more comfortable you will be letting a piece go to
a publisher who will typically want an exclusive deal with that piece of music
and collaborating helps you have a variety of different sounds.

Aaron: How much can musicians make
from licensing their music? Obviously there are a lot of variables but can you
give us an idea of possibilities in terms of how much musicians can potentially
make?

Brooke:
I'm afraid I can't answer this question with actual dollar amounts. It depends
on how many songs that writer has placed and if those songs are popular. We
have artists whose sole source of income is from licensing and there are others
who have to have other sources of income. The longer an artist stays in the
game the more money he or she will make. The artist should be aware that along
with the synch fees they will get from the publisher for the use of their song
in a media project, as long as the project airs on TV they will also get
performance royalties from their PRO. These royalties can add up and continue
for years if the spot continues to air.

Aaron: What makes the most sense from your
perspective, musicians writing music in anticipation of potential licensing
needs or musicians simply writing what they write naturally and then pursuing
licensing opportunities after the fact?

Brooke: If
a writer wants to use licensing as a way to promote their band then they should
write what they write and not try to change. Licensing can be a great way to
promote a new indie act. If the artist is trying to turn this into a full time
gig then they have to write all types of music in all styles and pay attention
to what is hot. That being said however, if an artist writes great rock, pop,
indie and singer songwriter music that's probably a good enough mixture, if
they can write rap and electronic too, great, but they shouldn't write what is
too far out of their comfort zone.

Aaron: Any final thoughts you can leave us
with in terms of how musicians can successfully license their music?

Brooke:
First and foremost they need to understand the business so that when a
publisher explains how everything works they don't get turned off. I suggest
reading "All You Need To Know About The Music Business" by Donald
Passman and for those who are really ambitious check out "Music Money and
Success" by Jeffrey and Todd Brabec.

Aaron:Thanks for your time, if musicians
want to learn more about your company and how they can submit music for your
consideration, where can they go to learn more?